Tuesday, April 13
It's that point in the semester where every possible big presentation and term paper is coming up all at the same time, so lots of work to catch up on. Last week was our spring break, during which I intended to do enormous volumes of work, but that didn't happen bcuz literally 24 hours before a small group of friends was scheduled to leave for Beijing for the week, I found out that my China visa had gone through and that I could just barely financially pull off one more trip, so I went.
We took a 26-hour train to Beijing in sleeper cars and were trying to decide what to do when we got there bcuz our friend David wasn't meeting us till Monday evening and it was only Saturday and his girlfriend wanted to avoid doing too many touristy things in Beijing without him. So as soon as we got to Beijing, we bought train tickets for that night for an overnight train to Hohhot, which is the capital of Inner Mongolia. It's still technically China, so you don't need an extra visa, but the culture and everything is still Mongolian, and they're considered like an autonomous region or something. Unfortunately, we forgot to get sleeper car tickets (probably cuz we can't speak any damn Mandarin) so we were in the insanely crowded regular car for the whole night and were thoroughly miserable. Honestly, we had the worst night! I ended up sleeping on the floor underneath the seats for 3 hours and I'm sure that is one hilarious photograph. But it was completely made up for by the fact that our day in Inner Mongolia was freaking amazing. We took a tour of the grasslands and rode the furriest horses you've ever seen on the Mongolian plain. I tell you, there is nothing there. It is the most desolate, barren place. I can't imagine it in winter, it must be a frickin wasteland.
Tuesday 30 August 2011
Thailand - March 2004
Tuesday, March 9
A crazy week with 2 hot ladies... Kari and Christine came to visit Thursday before last, and we had the best time for their spring break. We just hung out in Hong Kong for the first few days, went up to Victoria Peak, went to a few malls (since Hong Kong is basically just one huge shopping mall anyway) and got trashed at night. But then on Saturday we left for Thailand and had the best trip ever. We stayed on Khao San Road in Bangkok the first night with nine other international students from my school and it is just one huge dirty street with all the backpackers' hostels located on it and tons of clothes, CDs, and bars for really cheap. The baht is my new favorite money, it goes so far! On Sunday I sat for 4+ hours in the middle of Khao San Road in the extreme heat and humidity so that these 12-year-old Thai girls could pull at my hair. I got dreads and they kinda looked like crap but I kinda liked em too. I don't know, I was torn. I know Kari liked em and Teeny didn't, and honestly I'm not sure who I agreed with.
A crazy week with 2 hot ladies... Kari and Christine came to visit Thursday before last, and we had the best time for their spring break. We just hung out in Hong Kong for the first few days, went up to Victoria Peak, went to a few malls (since Hong Kong is basically just one huge shopping mall anyway) and got trashed at night. But then on Saturday we left for Thailand and had the best trip ever. We stayed on Khao San Road in Bangkok the first night with nine other international students from my school and it is just one huge dirty street with all the backpackers' hostels located on it and tons of clothes, CDs, and bars for really cheap. The baht is my new favorite money, it goes so far! On Sunday I sat for 4+ hours in the middle of Khao San Road in the extreme heat and humidity so that these 12-year-old Thai girls could pull at my hair. I got dreads and they kinda looked like crap but I kinda liked em too. I don't know, I was torn. I know Kari liked em and Teeny didn't, and honestly I'm not sure who I agreed with.
Hong Kong - January 2004
Monday, January 5
Ok, whoa... I'm just a *little* overwhelmed right now. Ok, how about a lot. And I've only been at school for less than 4 hours! Which seems impossible, considering I feel like I've been here for days already. Our plane left LAX at 10:30 on Saturday night, and we landed this morning (Monday) at 6:00. I only got 3 hours of sleep on the entire 15-hour plane ride, so right now I feel like the walking dead, kinda tired and cranky and shit. For me (and all of you in CA) it's 9:00 Sunday night but in reality it's 1:00 Monday afternoon. I have never had my concept of time screwed up this badly, I feel like it's just been one hellishly long day that isn't even close to being finished yet, and NOBODY here seems to speak English even though everyone and their mother told me that everybody in Hong Kong speaks English. Plus, the mattresses are like ROCKS (you have to feel it to believe it... I can't believe I have to sleep on it for 4 1/2 months). And Pepperdine in its typical fashion told us that there were all these things that would be taken care of for us when we got here, and we arrive to find that NOTHING has been done. We can't get food money, we don't have bed linens, and the Hong Kong Baptist University people told us we have to pay HK$550 which is like $80-85 as a damn room deposit. Does Dean Phillips sit with his thumb up his ass all day??? Honestly. Plus, I'm almost out of money in my bank account already. ???? How? I'm not sure.
Ok, whoa... I'm just a *little* overwhelmed right now. Ok, how about a lot. And I've only been at school for less than 4 hours! Which seems impossible, considering I feel like I've been here for days already. Our plane left LAX at 10:30 on Saturday night, and we landed this morning (Monday) at 6:00. I only got 3 hours of sleep on the entire 15-hour plane ride, so right now I feel like the walking dead, kinda tired and cranky and shit. For me (and all of you in CA) it's 9:00 Sunday night but in reality it's 1:00 Monday afternoon. I have never had my concept of time screwed up this badly, I feel like it's just been one hellishly long day that isn't even close to being finished yet, and NOBODY here seems to speak English even though everyone and their mother told me that everybody in Hong Kong speaks English. Plus, the mattresses are like ROCKS (you have to feel it to believe it... I can't believe I have to sleep on it for 4 1/2 months). And Pepperdine in its typical fashion told us that there were all these things that would be taken care of for us when we got here, and we arrive to find that NOTHING has been done. We can't get food money, we don't have bed linens, and the Hong Kong Baptist University people told us we have to pay HK$550 which is like $80-85 as a damn room deposit. Does Dean Phillips sit with his thumb up his ass all day??? Honestly. Plus, I'm almost out of money in my bank account already. ???? How? I'm not sure.
Saturday 27 August 2011
London - March / April 2003
Monday, March 10
Today is the first day in a long time where I've felt like I don't have anything to do, and it's GREAT. I love it! Haven't really done much in the past week beyond homework (yes, believe it or not). Saw "Rent" on Thursday, and really liked it. It was a mediocre production, but it was OK since I'd never seen it before. Went to a hookah bar on Friday night and out drinking, but otherwise I've done shit! :) I've read 500 some pages of a Russian novel though. Wow, my life sounds kinda crap. Haha!
Today is the first day in a long time where I've felt like I don't have anything to do, and it's GREAT. I love it! Haven't really done much in the past week beyond homework (yes, believe it or not). Saw "Rent" on Thursday, and really liked it. It was a mediocre production, but it was OK since I'd never seen it before. Went to a hookah bar on Friday night and out drinking, but otherwise I've done shit! :) I've read 500 some pages of a Russian novel though. Wow, my life sounds kinda crap. Haha!
Friday 26 August 2011
Ireland & Spain - February 2003
Monday, February 3
The year just keeps picking up more and more speed, I swear I'm gonna be back in the States tomorrow, it's going so fast. I don't really have anything to say about the week before last. Our friend Molly came to visit from Florence, and the only stuff we did was go see the Salvador Dali exhibit (which was really cool) and see a play called "This Is Our Youth." It was interesting, it's a 3-person show and this particular run is starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Chris Klein and the girl who played the ditzy winner in "Miss Congeniality." Yes, some of you may be saying, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Chris Klein on stage?? It's not quite as bad as it sounds, but they didn't really do much to convince me of their acting abilities, which I've never been too impressed with from their movies. Oh well. The story was basically good and Freddie WAS affecting at times, and it was really funny to see those 2 guys smoking joints onstage, even fake ones.
The year just keeps picking up more and more speed, I swear I'm gonna be back in the States tomorrow, it's going so fast. I don't really have anything to say about the week before last. Our friend Molly came to visit from Florence, and the only stuff we did was go see the Salvador Dali exhibit (which was really cool) and see a play called "This Is Our Youth." It was interesting, it's a 3-person show and this particular run is starring Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Chris Klein and the girl who played the ditzy winner in "Miss Congeniality." Yes, some of you may be saying, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Chris Klein on stage?? It's not quite as bad as it sounds, but they didn't really do much to convince me of their acting abilities, which I've never been too impressed with from their movies. Oh well. The story was basically good and Freddie WAS affecting at times, and it was really funny to see those 2 guys smoking joints onstage, even fake ones.
European Vacation - December 2002 / January 2003
Monday, December 2
Well, middle of finals week. My Religion class is now completely out of the way, and I only have 2 more tests and 1 paper to go. Thursday we have to be out of the house, and everybody is getting all sad cuz some people are leaving and not coming back next semester. It feels like our house is being broken up and it feels really unfair. I'm actually surprised myself at how much it's bothering me that the house is gonna be different next semester. I guess even the people I barely ever talk to I've just gotten used to, and now they'll be gone. Oh well. I have Christmas break to look forward to so this week isn't too bad.
On Thursday, me and Tina and Bree leave for Geneva and after 2 days there, we take a train to this condo in the Swiss Alps and we're there for a week. Bree is gonna leave us there and we're gonna get Adam joining us from Buenos Aires, which is very cool. Then me and Tina and Adam go to Rome for 5 nights, then to the French countryside where Tina's host family from when she was a foreign exchange student in high school lives. We'll be at their house for Christmas, which will be nice to have a family to be with. Then we're going with Tina's older host sister to Paris for a few days and staying with her friends or something [a shame this never happened]. Then we go to Barcelona for New Year's Eve, there almost a week, and then to Amsterdam for the last 6 nights of break before me and Tina have to take the ferry back to London so we can be back the day before classes start again. 5 weeks of traveling, freaks me out a little bit. But it's really exciting too. And it's also been really cool to have to plan the whole thing. Makes me feel strangely independent. Happy Christmas and a merry New Year, or whatever it is they say.
Well, middle of finals week. My Religion class is now completely out of the way, and I only have 2 more tests and 1 paper to go. Thursday we have to be out of the house, and everybody is getting all sad cuz some people are leaving and not coming back next semester. It feels like our house is being broken up and it feels really unfair. I'm actually surprised myself at how much it's bothering me that the house is gonna be different next semester. I guess even the people I barely ever talk to I've just gotten used to, and now they'll be gone. Oh well. I have Christmas break to look forward to so this week isn't too bad.
On Thursday, me and Tina and Bree leave for Geneva and after 2 days there, we take a train to this condo in the Swiss Alps and we're there for a week. Bree is gonna leave us there and we're gonna get Adam joining us from Buenos Aires, which is very cool. Then me and Tina and Adam go to Rome for 5 nights, then to the French countryside where Tina's host family from when she was a foreign exchange student in high school lives. We'll be at their house for Christmas, which will be nice to have a family to be with. Then we're going with Tina's older host sister to Paris for a few days and staying with her friends or something [a shame this never happened]. Then we go to Barcelona for New Year's Eve, there almost a week, and then to Amsterdam for the last 6 nights of break before me and Tina have to take the ferry back to London so we can be back the day before classes start again. 5 weeks of traveling, freaks me out a little bit. But it's really exciting too. And it's also been really cool to have to plan the whole thing. Makes me feel strangely independent. Happy Christmas and a merry New Year, or whatever it is they say.
Scotland & Prague - November 2002
Monday, November 4
As my good friend Mary Jayne said last week, "You know, our house is kinda like 'The Real World'... only with 40 people and a lot less sex." Ah yes, it was inevitable! We've all regressed back to the mental level of high schoolers and the petty drama is running full force. This last week had so much drama actually, it was the first time I've wanted to go home since I've been here. Well, first there was the major drama, that wasn't petty at all, which happened at room checks last Tuesday night. The RAs "randomly" searched certain people's desk drawers. Funny how the "randomly" searched desks all belonged to members of a specific group of friends. Yeah. So anyway, a tiny bit of Bacardi was found in Bree's desk drawer and she came THIS close to being kicked out of the program, which really really sucked. I don't think a lot of people really understand what a thread she was hanging on to. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances in her case that just barely saved her ass, and we are all very grateful for it. But it is way too much of a detailed story to get into here. Let's just say that a good third to half of the house strongly dislikes the RAs and the Program Director right now... I believe EJ called them "the gestapo." But whatever. It's over now, so that's good. Then of course, there's all the high school drama shit. But once again, there's so much of it and it's all so petty, it's not important. It's just, when you throw 40 people into this kind of living situation, you're bound to end up with problems. A lot of people in this house really don't like each other anymore. So yeah, drama abounds.
As my good friend Mary Jayne said last week, "You know, our house is kinda like 'The Real World'... only with 40 people and a lot less sex." Ah yes, it was inevitable! We've all regressed back to the mental level of high schoolers and the petty drama is running full force. This last week had so much drama actually, it was the first time I've wanted to go home since I've been here. Well, first there was the major drama, that wasn't petty at all, which happened at room checks last Tuesday night. The RAs "randomly" searched certain people's desk drawers. Funny how the "randomly" searched desks all belonged to members of a specific group of friends. Yeah. So anyway, a tiny bit of Bacardi was found in Bree's desk drawer and she came THIS close to being kicked out of the program, which really really sucked. I don't think a lot of people really understand what a thread she was hanging on to. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances in her case that just barely saved her ass, and we are all very grateful for it. But it is way too much of a detailed story to get into here. Let's just say that a good third to half of the house strongly dislikes the RAs and the Program Director right now... I believe EJ called them "the gestapo." But whatever. It's over now, so that's good. Then of course, there's all the high school drama shit. But once again, there's so much of it and it's all so petty, it's not important. It's just, when you throw 40 people into this kind of living situation, you're bound to end up with problems. A lot of people in this house really don't like each other anymore. So yeah, drama abounds.
Saturday 20 August 2011
London & Greece - October 2002
Monday, October 14
Well, this week was interesting, cuz I was way sick for most of the time but I got to do some really cool stuff anyway, so it was a nice mix of good and bad. Well, first off, yeah, I'm more sure than ever that too much partying is NO GOOD. I was really sick on Monday, and then Tuesday, I was SICK. Hardcore sick. My Religion professor actually told me to go upstairs and go to sleep cuz I looked horrible and there was no way I was gonna profit from anything he said that day. I missed Great Books too. 2 classes missed, and trust me, absences when you're abroad hurt a LOT more than absences on campus. At least it was Tuesday. An absence on Monday or Thursday counts double.
Well, this week was interesting, cuz I was way sick for most of the time but I got to do some really cool stuff anyway, so it was a nice mix of good and bad. Well, first off, yeah, I'm more sure than ever that too much partying is NO GOOD. I was really sick on Monday, and then Tuesday, I was SICK. Hardcore sick. My Religion professor actually told me to go upstairs and go to sleep cuz I looked horrible and there was no way I was gonna profit from anything he said that day. I missed Great Books too. 2 classes missed, and trust me, absences when you're abroad hurt a LOT more than absences on campus. At least it was Tuesday. An absence on Monday or Thursday counts double.
Friday 19 August 2011
London - September 2002
Continuing the nostalgia kick that I was on earlier in the summer, I've decided to transcribe the e-mails I sent to friends during my sophomore year studying in Pepperdine's London program (albeit somewhat edited). I feel like it'll be interesting to see just how young and green I was during my first time living in England right as I'm preparing to move back for another academic stint. Let's see, shall we?
Monday, September 9
London is fantastic. We left LAX at 9 PM last Wednesday and landed in London at 3 PM on Thursday, so jet lag was kinda weird. I sat next to this really cool British girl named Jules on the plane who had the perfect accent and I just listened to her talk for like 3 hours. :) When we got to the house, all 40 of us got acquainted with it and explored, and let me tell you the house is beautiful. It has 5 floors and a basement, and me and my roommates (Josh, Jason, EJ, K, and Travis) live on the 4th floor (which in England is actually called the 3rd because what we call the first floor they call the ground floor and what we call the second floor they call the first floor... a little confusing). But yeah, so Tina and Bree and Kari live in the basement, and I said I would leave my laptop in their room so they could use it and listen to music whenever they wanted, and between the basement and my floor there are 97 very steep steps!!! It's pretty crazy. I'm constantly winded from running up and down this huge building.
Monday, September 9
London is fantastic. We left LAX at 9 PM last Wednesday and landed in London at 3 PM on Thursday, so jet lag was kinda weird. I sat next to this really cool British girl named Jules on the plane who had the perfect accent and I just listened to her talk for like 3 hours. :) When we got to the house, all 40 of us got acquainted with it and explored, and let me tell you the house is beautiful. It has 5 floors and a basement, and me and my roommates (Josh, Jason, EJ, K, and Travis) live on the 4th floor (which in England is actually called the 3rd because what we call the first floor they call the ground floor and what we call the second floor they call the first floor... a little confusing). But yeah, so Tina and Bree and Kari live in the basement, and I said I would leave my laptop in their room so they could use it and listen to music whenever they wanted, and between the basement and my floor there are 97 very steep steps!!! It's pretty crazy. I'm constantly winded from running up and down this huge building.
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